Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic Dungeons & Dragons

In 1977, TSR published the first introductory set for Dungeons & Dragons. This Basic Set included a monochrome blue rulebook (the Blue Book) edited by Dr. J. Eric Holmes from the original D&D booklets (the Little Brown Books) by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and the first supplements. Holmes also created a Sample Dungeon for the rulebook in which novice adventurers from Portown explore the dungeon beneath the ruined tower of the wizard Zenopus. This set served its role ably until 1981 when it was replaced by a revised Basic Set. Some still find Holmes Basic, as the rules are popularly known, to be a concise 48-page introduction to OD&D or AD&D, and others have been inspired to use it as the basis for expansion to an entire game of its own.Many gamers involved in the current "Old School Renaissance" (OSR) started with the Holmes Set.

"[S]ufficient information
across the board to enable play for a group for a limited period of
time--enough to determine if the game is "right" for the group. That's
what the Basic Set of D&D was for, and that was a good idea that J.
Eric Holmes came up with." --- Gary Gygax, Dragonsfoot forum post, 2002